


all i know is the way that i feel

by starrydrowse



Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, That's about it tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23891179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrydrowse/pseuds/starrydrowse
Summary: Brian’s eyebrows furrow, confused. “You made this?” He asks incredulously. “Like from scratch?”“I mean, I found part of it in a dumpster, but I fixed it up and added some bits and pieces," John shrugs.Brian looks at him in shock. “You made this for me?”*Or, John is looking for that big romantic gesture to win over Brian. He finds it in a dumpster.
Relationships: John Deacon/Brian May
Comments: 12
Kudos: 51





	all i know is the way that i feel

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! look at this!! my first new fic published since 2019 :^) it's technically not even anything new lol i posted this on my tumblr a few months ago as a blurb, based on a request i got from a lovely anon, but i really liked it so i decided to edit it a bit and rework it to post here as a little drabble! it's just short and sweet, i hope you like it :)
> 
> title is from love in store by fleetwood mac

They’ve been flirty for a while now.

It isn’t exactly subtle— the lingering touches, the giggles, the secret glances that aren’t all that secret— even Roger and Freddie have noticed that something is up, and they’re usually too ridiculously codependent to notice anything that’s going on with John and Brian.

Almost surprisingly, John isn’t shy about any of it. He may be the younger of the two, but it’s Brian who blushes like a schoolgirl whenever John cracks some secret joke with him, Brian getting flustered and stumbling over his words whenever John is standing just a little too close, and John can’t help but feel a little surge of pride whenever he manages to make proper, well-put-together Brian to lose his composure like that.

But nothing has actually _happened_ yet. John is a romantic at heart, and he’s still looking for that grand gesture— something big to do for Brian before he finally stops messing around and actually asks him on a date. It comes when he’s walking home from practice late one night, when he sees the bundle of wires sticking out from the dumpster. When he finds it attached to an amplifier, the idea starts to form in his head.

He has to be careful when he’s building it; he can’t have Brian finding out about it, which is a difficult feat when you live with someone. Freddie and Roger can’t know either, blabbermouths that they are— they’d let it slip to Brian before the end of the day. So it takes a while to build, lots of late nights tinkering away while the rest of the boys are sound asleep in their beds, until _finally_ he’s managed to build something that works. It’s even better than he’d imagined, too; he gives it a go with his own electric, and the sound just about takes his breath away. The distortion, the sustain, the tone… it all sounds better than he could’ve dreamed, and John can’t even begin to imagine the things Brian will be able to do with it, as talented as he is.

He waits until Roger and Freddie are out one night, before he calls Brian into the living room. Brian pops his head out of their bedroom door, all messy curls, looking unbelievably soft and lovely in his worn jeans and navy jumper with a pencil tucked behind his ear.

“Yeah?” he says, and John has to fight to get his heart rate under control, trying to ignore the sound of the blood rushing in his ears. His stomach is suddenly fluttering with nerves, and he does his best to ignore them, too.

“I have something for you.”

Brian’s eyebrows shoot up. “For me?”

John nods, gesturing for Brian to come closer before he reaches behind the couch to pull out the amp.

Brian looks surprised; apprehensive, even. “It’s an amp.”

John can tell his mind is already racing— amps aren’t cheap, and if he knows Brian, he knows that’s the first thing he’ll worry about, so he says quickly, “I made it.”

Brian’s eyebrows furrow, confused. “You made this?” He asks incredulously. “Like from scratch?”

“I mean, I found part of it in a dumpster, but I fixed it up and added some bits and pieces," John shrugs.

Brian looks at him in shock. “You made this for me?”

John nods, watching Brian stare at the amp, taking it all in, before he turns back to John, something like wonder on his face. 

“I don’t know what to say,” Brian admits.

John grins. “Maybe you should go get your guitar and try it out.”

When Brian scurries back a moment later, his guitar in hand, John hands him the patch cord to plug in. The moment Brian strums the first few chords, his eyes light up like a child at christmas. He’s sat cross-legged on the living room floor in front of John, his back against the sofa and his guitar in his lap, and when he looks at John with a wide grin on his face— that same off-kilter sort of smile that John can never seem to get out of his head— something warm flutters in John’s chest.

Brian messes around with the amp for a while, plays with the dials and learns all the sounds he can make on the Old Lady he’d never been able to make before— he can make her sound like a violin, or a cello, even a human voice, and John watches the whole time, smiling so wide his cheeks hurt. Finally, after god knows how long, Brian sets his guitar down and looks at John with bright eyes.

“Thank you John,” he says sincerely. “This is just… incredible. I don’t even know what to say, just— thank you.” He’s blushing, his cheeks pink and his eyes sparkling, and John’s stomach is full of butterflies.

“Do you want to go for drinks?” John blurts. As soon as the words leave his mouth he feels his cheeks starting to heat up.

It’s not quite how he meant to ask— he’d hoped that when he finally asked Brian out he would be much more smooth— suave, even— less… whatever that was. “I mean,” he stammers. “Without Roger and Freddie. Just us. For drinks.”

Brian’s eyes are wide. “Drinks?”

John nods. “Like, um, as… as a—”

“As a date,” John confirms quickly, the tips of his ears burning.

Brian’s cheeks have turned an even darker shade of pink. “Oh,” he squeaks. “Um. Now?”

“Mhm.”

“Oh,” Brian pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, trying to suppress his wide smile and failing miserably. John is positive he’s never seen anything quite so endearing. “Yes,” he says quickly, nearly stumbling over the word in his haste to get it out. He clears his throat. “Yes,” he tries again. “A drink sounds great.”

John beams back at him, so wide his cheeks hurt. “Come on then. Let's go.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked this please feel free to leave a comment and let me know!
> 
> and feel free to come talk to me on my [tumblr](https://starrydrowse.tumblr.com/) :)


End file.
